Retail displays of greeting cards have typically organized cards by occasion (such as Birthday, Wedding, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, etc.) in a standardized arrangement. However, different types of people have different needs and preferences when selecting a greeting card. By organizing all of the cards in one occasion together, it makes it difficult and time consuming for a consumer to find a card that she wants to purchase. The more time consuming the task of purchasing a greeting card becomes, the less likely a consumer will make the effort to purchase greeting cards. On the other hand, if the greeting cards were initially organized based on certain consumer preferences and then by occasion, the consumer could select the group of consumer preferences that best describe her and search for cards in the portion of the display that contains greeting cards that are more likely to be desirable to her.
The traditional display of greeting cards also makes the consumer's experience in purchasing greeting cards a time consuming process. Conventional greeting card displays have changed little over the years. Most display a majority of their greeting cards in a partial-facing manner so that the consumer can only see a portion (generally the top half) of the card while it is in the display. Partial-facing displays are generally preferred because they allow for a greater number of cards in a fixed amount of shelf space. Unfortunately, partial-facing displays force the consumer to remove the greeting card to determine if the art and copy on the front of the card is appropriate. If not, the consumer generally will not take the time to review the interior art and copy of the greeting card. If a display was designed to present a greater percentage of cards in a full-facing manner the consumer would be able to more quickly determine the cards she is interested in purchasing. In addition, by placing additional information about the greeting card, for example, the internal copy of the card, near the card in the display, the consumer's selection time can be further reduced because the consumer would not have to open the card to determine if she likes the interior copy of the greeting card.
In addition, since the greeting cards in a conventional card display are typically presented in the same manner, there are no visual cues alerting the consumer to cards that are trendy, represent emerging trends, or worthy of closer review. While those cards may be in the display, the consumer must “hunt and peck” to find them.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a display assembly that effectively displays a product in a manner that encourages consumers to enter a display area to make one or more purchases of displayed items. There is also a need in the art for a display assembly that supports a consumer's efficient selection of a product of interest among a collection of displayed items. There is a further need in the art for a display assembly that supports a buying experience that is founded on one or more emotional motivators—the underlying reasons that drive a consumer to purchase a product. In recognition of these needs, the present invention provides a display assembly and methods that attract a consumer's attention to the display area and efficiently displays a product for convenient viewing by a consumer.